Mantrax DC Lock

[Ryan]

Hello all

Im posting Mantraxs’ current build as a few people have asked me about it.

It’s a wall of text Im afraid – I intended it to be just a description of the build, but along the way I got a bit carried away and it became a bit of a tome.

It’s a DC caster Warlock using Soul Eater/ Tainted Scholar enhancements, running in Exalted Angel.

My plan was to trial this build on Mantrax whilst getting him to cap and then resume Corazons eTR cycle as a DC Lock.

Why DC caster? No other reason than I wanted a change from Auralock – I still think Auralocks are great as they are a very strong choice for both soloing and grouping. They’re also pretty easy to play and they don’t really require any PLs of any kind to be successful.

The build Im following for Mantrax is based on a DDO forum build by a user called Slarden. Take a look at his post for further info.

Im tweaking it to look like this.

Feats in order: 1) Maximise 3) Empower 6) PL Wiz 9) Quicken 12) SF Necro 15) Spell Pen 18) G Spell Pen 21) Blast, 24) Embolden, 26) Blast 27) Ruin, 28) Spell power SP Force, 29) Arc Pulse, 30) G Cha (to round out stat) 30) Scion of Shadowfell

Im not getting too much mileage out of Ruin (mostly because I forget I have it) which is why I never took Greater Ruin. On the surface they don’t look to be very SP efficient spells. However I am open to opinions on this.

Corazons build will be like this

Feats in order: 1) Maximise, 3) Empower, 6) Completionist, 9) Quicken, 12) SF Necro, 15) PL Wiz, 18) GSF Nec, 21) Blast, 24) Embolden, 26) Blast, 27) not decided, 28) SP Force if I take Ruin, 29) Arc Pulse, 30) Not decided, 30) Scion of Shadowfell

Im still undecided on some of the feats for Corazons build and will choose them to suit my needs at the time.

No Spell Pen Feats? Corazon gets nine Spell Pen from PLs and I am relying on Reaper points and gear to see me through – I can feats change as necessary if Spell Resistance becomes a problem. Mantrax hasn’t had any SR issues, so I think it will be OK.

My experience whilst getting Mantrax to cap has shown me that it can be a very gear dependent build depending on what you are running.

If you want to be a DC caster in “at level” Reaper you need to have crafted main and insightful items for your main stat and focus items to get your DCs up. Even then for me it was a bit hit and miss in some quests – but I lacked Reaper points on Mantrax which is a great boost. I’m hoping this won’t be so much of an issue on Corazon as he has a few points to spend.

The highest Warlock spell is L6 putting them behind the DC curve from the outset when compared to a Wiz, not to mention possible Enhancements deficits.

A DC lock also feels squishy – I don’t think I actually died in low to mid Epics, but I always felt like I was just one step away from dying.

Now that Mantrax is level 30 that has changed – I find I am dying much more in quests than I did on Corazon. People who know the mechanics may confirm this, but it feels like if something breaks my CC and there is no Threat/ Hate tank or other CC in the group, then I get insta aggro and often end up as a soul stone if Im not quick to react.

I find that my PRR is depressingly low as are my hit points meaning I can’t really take much of a hit.

Would I recommend the build based on my current experience with it?

As a Heroic build then yes, this build will rock in Heroics no matter how many PLs you have because your Cone and Eldritch wave will just kill everything anyway.

For Epics?

This is a bit trickier to answer – if you have no PLs then you’re going to struggle to get DCs and Spell Pen as you’ll need heavy feat investment in Pen before even thinking about DCs – this will have a knock on effect on the rest of the build.

If you’re not fussed about Reaper or EE then I think the build is viable, but EE and up will require thought and gearing I think.

The main reason I ran Mantrax up to cap as a test build was because I was concerned about reaching the DCs required at “end game”. Apparently “end game” requires at least 95+ DC for no fail if you believe the DDO forums – in fact the original poster of the build is quoting 110 Cha and 100+ Necro DCs iirc.

So, how does Mantrax perform at L30 from the limited questing I’ve done so far?

The good news is he isn’t actually too bad. What is even better though is that his gear is predominantly Raventloft, meaning its easily available to everyone (who has the pack) and you don’t need to grind hours of Slavers or Raids to be effective.

As Mantrax stands he has somewhere near 1000HPs and PRR in the mid 90s (including the Adherent of the Mists bonus).The only way I can see to get this higher is filigrees, PDK and Divine PLs, being able to loot Fallen Hero bracers plus getting a couple more from Ravenloft raid gear.

His spell point pool is about 3000 which is adequate due to soul gem drops

His Enchant spells (82 DC in Reaper) are effective in R3 Slavers and Ravenloft and R5 Memoirs

His Necro DC (88 in Reaper) is definitely on the low side and landing insta-kills is hit and miss – there is no room for error when selecting your target and very little choices for debuffing as a Lock.

Once I finish my gearing I can possibly get another couple of DC, but I won’t be using filigrees on Mantrax as they’re being saved for Corazon. I believe Corazon when fully geared at endgame will be in the mid 90s DC wise

Solo Rxp and gear farming viability? – Ive not done any solo farming yet, but I suspect it will be much harder than doing it on an Auralock due to the Auralocks increased HPs and the ability to jump kite without actually having to aim at anything due to the nature of bursts and blasts. DC lock will need to be played much smarter due to low HPs and the directional nature of its DPS and insta-kills.

And finally….Do I enjoy playing a DC Lock and would I recommend people to run one? Yes and yes.

DC Locks are great fun to play – due to the variety of tools at your disposal (not so many that it becomes confusing or so few that it becomes boring) and the fact that you need to give thought to where you stand, what you target and the ever pressing need to be aware of what is happening around you, not to mention you’re only ever one shot away from death in Reaper if a Champ sneaks up on you due to HP and PRR.

If anyone has any questions about the build or comments then feel free to add them.

Cheers

Ryan

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